GIVEN she scales tall scaffolding to paint stunning murals on the outside of buildings in Kelty and elsewhere – it's a surprise to learn Donna Forrester is scared of heights.

And the colourful artist, who is originally from the village, isn't that keen on being outdoors and worries that the rain will make her colours run.

"I picked the right job eh?" she laughs. "Working outdoors in the Scottish weather and scared of heights!"

Her latest work of art has just been unveiled and it's a painting of Private Paul Lowe, who lost his life aged just 19 in Iraq.

His four brothers got the idea for a tribute after Donna and fellow Kelty Street Art member Celie Byrne created a mural of boxer Connor Law, who sadly died in June 2019.

A 30-feet high painting of him was unveiled at The Kings pub last October.

Donna said: "It was suggested we could do one for Paul and it went from there.

"You need funding for scaffolding, materials and labour and the brothers were on it immediately, they had the money within a month or two.

"They put on events and a lot of work went into making this happen so it's hats off to them, they should be really proud of what they've done.

"The club was on board from the start. With it being an ex-servicemen's club it also related to what they're all about."

Donna, a former multi-media designer, completed the artwork last week and said: "The one of Paul is a photo and it's a nice shape to do.

"It's hand-painting so it takes a bit longer. Connor's mural took 20 days and there were two of us doing it, this one was mostly me although Celie was out for a while.

"When it rains on and off it doesn't have time to dry, that's happened once already but you just clear it up quick before anyone sees!"

Asked about the process, she explained: "I normally get the photo first and photoshop it onto one of the building.

"I can then look at it on my phone and sketch it out. If you imagine it's a bigger piece of paper, you just have to stand further back to look at what you're doing.

"The eyes are the window to the soul so you have to get the eyes right."

Locals were naturally interested in the mural for one of their own and she admitted: "Kelty is a tight-knit community. I grew up there myself and you always felt looked after. People are proud of each other's achievements.

"When it comes to something like this, it's quite sensitive, it is a lot of pressure but it's what I enjoy doing.

"It does take time away from the painting when people want to have a blether but I think it does help me as you learn more about the person.

"They have a wee chat, tell you a wee funny story or give you some insight into what they were like.

"I didn't know Paul or Connor and it does help, when you're doing a portrait, to know them a wee bit better."

She's already got another project on the go – it started before lockdown – with a painting of a spitfire on what used to be a runway at RAF Grangemouth and is now a playground.

They don't all come off, one idea of a painting for the wall of a snooker hall in Dunfermline, "it was going to look like the guy was playing pool towards you", was black-balled but she still sets her sights high.

Donna said: "If I look at a huge building now I think, 'That's a challenge' and I'm up for it.

"The Amazon building in Dunfermline is massive. That's a huge canvas, you could do something really quirky there that you could see for miles. I'd love that."